First out of the gate I'm going to look at a couple of NLers, one long shot closer candidate and one intriguing bat looking for an opportunity.

Kiko Calero: Calero's last good season came with Oakland in 2006, when he struck out 67 guys in 58 innings with solid ratios. Since then he's battled through shoulder problems, including a torn rotator cuff; he resurfaced last season but struggled badly with his control, even at Triple-A, and it seemed like he might be done. The Marlins gave him a spring NRI, however, and so far he's looked pretty good, putting together a 4:1 K:BB ratio in his first four appearances (four innings).

It's a funny thing about the Marlins bullpen. No matter who is projected to close for them, the job always seems to end up going to a safely seasoned veteran arm. Todd Jones, Joe Borowski, Kevin Gregg... all of them either revived their career or got a major boost by heading down to south Florida. Given that Matt Lindstrom is now dealing with rotator cuff issues of his own, Leo Nunez is thought to be the front-runner to take over while Lindstrom's out, with Scott Proctor also in the conversation due to his experience. Calero has about as much experience as Proctor though, and more closer-like stuff and stat lines in his prime. If, and it's still a fairly big if at this point, Calero wins a spot in the bullpen he's as likely to be the guy manager Fredi Gonzalez hands the ball to in the ninth inning as anyone else.

Jesus Guzman: I know what you're thinking... who the heck is this guy? 'This guy' is a former Mariners prospect who got pushed too fast, too soon, hitting in the .250s at Double-A as a 21- and 22-year old before getting sent back to High-A in 2007 and suddenly lighting it up. Billy Beane picked him up last year and gave him another chance at Double-A and he responded with a .364/.419/.560 line, although he struggled badly in a very brief Triple-A stint. He didn't last long in green and yellow though. The Giants signed him away from Oakland and Guzman proceeded to pwn the Venezuelan Winter League, hitting .349, breaking the league record for RBI and winning the MVP. And all he's done so far this spring is hit .400/.432/.943 (yes, nine-forty-three) with three home runs, a triple and eight doubles (and only two singles) in 35 at-bats.

Now, most of that production over the last two years has come in hitter-friendly environments (especially his Cactus League explosion) but even so it's an impressive body of work. At this point he's competing for a spot on the San Francisco bench, and given the shape the Giants' franchise is in they'd be nuts not to give Guzman a chance to show what he can do instead of a retread like, say, Juan Uribe. Guzman has some defensive versatility (he came up with the Mariners as a third baseman) and hits righty, so he could be a good fit as Travis ishikawa's platoon partner and then fill in as needed across the diamond, in the outfield corners or even at second base in a pinch. And if he keeps raking, the team's not going to have much choice but to give him all the playing time he can handle.